Postgame chaos best part of telecast

The postgame chaos Sunday night as CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson tried to interview Tom Brady surpassed most of what we saw during the Patriots' 13-3 victory over the Rams.

Wolfson, spotting her interview subject 10 inches and 100 pounds, nearly got swallowed up by a herd of photographers as she patiently waited for Brady to accept congratulations from teammates and opponents.

Once play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz sent viewers to Wolfson, it took 2 minutes, 45 seconds before she finally could ask her first question of Brady.

Wolfson did warn us, saying, "It's just insanity right now."

Instead, we got to hear security guards tell her, "I'll try and help you" and "Jesus, are you OK? Just stay tight, all right?"

Credit Wolfson for eventually getting a 105-second chat with the six-time Super Bowl winner.

There wasn't nearly as much turmoil during the game, the lowest-scoring in Super Bowl history, but CBS had it covered.

Nantz, working his seventh Super Bowl telecast (including two as studio host), was flawless. No stage is too big for him.

He recognized the insight and enthusiasm analyst Tony Romo, who never made the big game as a player, brings to a booth, and gave him room to shine.

Hearing Brady call an audible that sounded like "Reagan," Romo said, "Is that Ronald Reagan?" After Sony Michel carried the ball off right tackle, Romo said, "And, obviously, 'Reagan' means run to the right."

Romo seemed comfortable. His personality and knowledge enhanced — and did not detract from — the telecast.

Early in the third quarter, Romo said, "(Patriots coach Bill) Belichick has them just swallowed up everywhere. This is hard to watch. This is how many punts in a row now?"

Nantz: "This is going to be the eighth one. Eight consecutive possessions ending in a punt for (Johnny) Hekker. ... My goodness, this could be the longest punt in Super Bowl history?"

Romo: "Oh, you've been waiting for a good stat like that!"

When the Rams tied the game 3-3 later in the quarter, Romo chimed in with mock amazement, "I can't believe it. We've got points. ... It feels like we've got a scoring spree going on."

We kept waiting for Romo, as he did in the AFC championship game, to start correctly predicting plays, but there was so little offense, he didn't have much to work with.

On the Patriots' final drive, Romo was adamant that the Rams should decline a penalty to keep more time on the clock.

The Rams indeed refused the infraction, but Nantz softly offered a possible rebuttal.

"Some might be asking, Tony," he said, "when all that talk about the penalties against New England, do you refuse them or do you take them, if you had taken it, you would have been back to the 43-yard line and taken them out of field-goal range. What would you say to that?"

Romo stumbled through an answer that didn't make sense, and the Patriots wound up kicking a game-clinching field goal.

It was a small lapse in what was mostly a solid telecast.

There were few controversial plays, and the production crew had the necessary angles when there were some questions.

One quibble would be why the network didn't have Wolfson give an update to start the second half on the Rams, who continued to use running back Todd Gurley sparingly despite their contention he was healthy.

Overall, the memory of the Super Bowl LIII telecast won't be of the game, but the aftermath.

Pete Dougherty has been with the paper since 1986 and is currently the beat reporter for the University at Albany basketball teams and Albany Empire of the Arena Football League. He is a columnist on sports media, golf and bowling, and coordinator for the Times Union's high school football video highlight packages.

He's a native of Bradford, Pa., proud graduate of Penn State and a voter for the Heisman Trophy and the Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Fame.